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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 2025).

The Things They Say!

This is a good opportunity to say thanks to BSH for their support of the jazz scene in the North East (and beyond) - it's no exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for them many, many fine musicians, bands and projects across a huge cross section of jazz wouldn't be getting reviewed at all, because we're in the "desolate"(!) North. (M & SSBB on F/book 23/12/24)

Postage

18043 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 364 of them this year alone and, so far, 42 this month (May 15).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Mon 19: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 20: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.
Tue 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth NE61 1ND. 8:00pm.

Wed 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 21: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public). b Wed 21: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 22: Nuevo Castillo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £5.00.
Thu 22: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:30-9:15pm. Free.
Thu 22: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 23: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. ‘Celebrating Oscar’.
Fri 23: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 23: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Joe Steels Group @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. + £1.55. bf. A Northumberland Jazz Festival fringe event.
Fri 23: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 23: Gaz Hughes Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.
Fri 23: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £19.00.; £17.00. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 24: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:15pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 24: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bywell Hall, Stocksfield. 1:30pm. Northumberland County Show.
Sat 24: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 24: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ The Peacock, Sunderland. 6:00pm.
Sat 24: Dean Stockdale Quartet + Mingus Sings @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Stockdale (piano); Tim Williams (guitar); Gavin Barras (double bass); Gaz Hughes (drums) + Mingus Sings: Sara Oschlag (vocals); Alan Barnes (reeds); Tim Lapthorn (piano); Arnie Somogyi (double bass); Clark Tracey (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sat 24: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 24: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sat 24: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £3.00. + bf.
Sat 24: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 25: Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion: Bandstand Sessions @ The Sele, Hexham. 12 noon. Free. A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ Spanish City Plaza (outdoor stage). 1:00pm. Free. A Whitley Bay Carnival event.
Sun 25: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Catriona Bourne Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Bourne (harp), Francis Tulip (guitar), James Owston (double bass), Joe Bainbridge (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Struggle Buggy @ The Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sun 25: Joe Steels Group + Norma Winstone (vocals); Nikki Iles (piano); Mike Walker (guitar); Steve Watts (double bass). 7:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Steels (guitar); Ferg Kilsby (trumpet, flugelhorn); Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Susans (double bass); John Hirst (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 25: Xhosa Cole/Neil Charles/Mark Sanders @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A JNE promotion. Note: Xhosa Cole replaces Nicole Mitchell.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Thursday, May 23, 2019

CD Review: Fred Hersch & The WDR Big Band (Arranged & Conducted by Vince Mendoza) Begin Again

(Review by Dave Brownlow).

Respected piano master and composer Fred Hersch, together with the brilliant WDR Big Band conducted by six-time Grammy winner Vince Mendoza re-visit nine of Fred’s original compositions in an expertly-played showcase for this “team-of-all-the talents” - this “Manchester City” of contemporary jazz.

The Cologne-based WDR Band, universally acknowledged as a remarkable outfit and described by DownBeat as “one of Europe’s finest large jazz ensembles” are packed with brilliantly expressive players several of whom shine here.

Vince Mendoza, a world-renowned composer and arranger in jazz and contemporary music, has, so far in his career, received six Grammy awards and 33 nominations! His warm colourful scores contain many ‘devices and techniques’ first pioneered by The Maestro Gil Evans in the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s which enhance and develop Fred Hersch’s themes and attractive playing judiciously and appropriately.

Begin Again, previously unrecorded, a flowing theme cleverly conceived to incorporate numerous ‘time changes’ has piano and orchestra alternately leading towards a forthright alto solo from Johan Horlen, an imaginative contribution from Hersch and a call-and-response segment before the final theme statement.

Song Without Words #2: Ballad from a 2001 project has a tender melody backed by tightly Harmon-muted trumpets and an emotional alto solo, again from Horlen. The background figures are a delight in themselves and Mendoza illustrates the arranger’s craft at its highest level.

Havana, from 2012, is a spritely romp through familiar-sounding chord changes; a confident contemporary-style tenor solo from Paul Heller is a feature here before the band takes it out in an exuberant coda. Out Someplace (Blues For Matthew Shepard) comes from 1999 – originally a dance score to illustrate the brutal murder of Shepard and how he must have felt in the lead-up to his lonely death. Eerie avante-garde sounds attempt to convey the sadness and pain of this complex scenario…Mendoza here uses his imagination to utilise the vast aural resources of the WDR ensemble.

Pastorale first appeared in 2011 as a homage to Schumann and the “Scenes From Childhood” pieces which Fred learned as a young musician. This song has one of those chord sequences that ‘everyone seems to know’ in a warm, fluid composition with flutes, clarinets and muted trumpets providing supple background figures as Fred solos.

Rain Waltz (early 1980s) is a ‘classy’ feature for a “Milesean” Ruud Breuls, his warm breathy tone contrasting with the bitter-sweet alto of Karolina Strassmeyer, her only feature. The ensemble takes us out with harmonies reminiscent of “The Birth of the Cool”

The Big Easy (2018) with a nod to New Orleans, is a relaxed swinger, having appropriate solos from Fred, trombonist Ludwig Nuss and trumpeter Andy Haderer to sustain the bluesy groove. Forward Motion from 1991 is a lively, swinging, challenging piece featuring drummer Hans Dekker, tenorist Heller, Ruud Breuls on trumpet and trombonist Andy Hunter. Hersch’s optimistic character shines forth in this music with its driving exuberance.

The final song is a rendition of The Orb from “My Coma Dreams”  as rich, Jarrett-like chords flow reflectively from the piano where Fred’s lovely touch at the keyboard really makes the music ‘sing,’ the ensemble leaving us with a heart-rending chorale – Mendoza’s last, intense contribution.

Wonderful playing throughout, together with imaginative contributions from a ‘stellar combination of musicians’ makes this an “unmissable” album truly worth 5 stars!
Due out on June 7 and available from palmetto-records.com
Dave B.

Johan Horlen, Karolina Strassmayer, Olivier Peters, Paul Heller, Jens Neufang (reeds); Ludwig Nuss, Andrea Andrioli, Andy Hunter, (trombones); Mattis Cederberg (bass trombone & tuba); Wim Both , Rob Bruynen, Andy Haderer, Ruud Breuls (trumpets); Fred Hersch (piano); Paul Shigihara (guitar); Paul Goldsby (bass); Hans Dekker (drums). 

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